TheUnited States Constitution was first printed byDunlap & Claypoole in 1787, during theConstitutional Convention. From the original printing, 13 original copies are known to exist.
TheConstitutional Convention's printers, Dunlap & Claypoole, printed the drafts and final copies of theUnited States Constitution.John Dunlap and David C. Claypoole had printed for Congress since 1775, including the first copies of theDeclaration of Independence[1] andArticles of Confederation, and were designated Congress's official printer in 1778.[2] During the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Dunlap & Claypoole printed 820 draft copies and 500 final copies at a total cost of $420.[1]
John Dunlap received the first draft of the Constitution from theCommittee of Detail for printing as a seven-pagebroadside on August 4, 1787, and was turned around in two days for the Convention's members. Copies of this first draft exist in the separately collected papers of the Convention,James Madison, andDavid Brearley.[3]
In early September, the Constitution was referred to the Committee of "Stile and arrangements" for revisions, with new copies of this second draft printed on September 12 for the convention's members.[3] The Convention read the amended report the next day. Extant copies of this four-folio and penultimate draft of the Constitution rest in the papers of Madison and Brearley, as well as those ofGeorge Washington (Library of Congress), each with markings made over the next three days.[4]
Three days following the second draft's printing, the Convention, with its business concluded, ordered a printing of 500 copies of the third and final draft on September 15, to be dated September 17, 1787, when the Convention's proceedings and itsengrossed Constitution were to be signed. Apart from interlineations, the printed and engrossed versions are identical.[4] The Constitutional Congress sent the Convention's report for state ratification on September 28. The Congress's records indicate orders of 200 additional copies in close proximity to their resolution.[5]
In the final Constitution's printing, Dunlap & Claypoole produced 500 copies of a six-page broadside withCaslonsmall-picatype.[5] Its sole typographical error mistakenly spelled out a number inArticle Five but was corrected in subsequent reprints.[6]
| # | Location | City | Provenance | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | American Philosophical Society Library | Philadelphia | Benjamin Franklin copy, inscribed to Rev. Lathrop[7] | |
| 2 | Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art | Bentonville, Arkansas | Sotheby's sale to S. Howard Goldman, 1988. Sotheby's sale toKenneth C. Griffin, 2021, settingauction record for a book or manuscript. On loan for public exhibition. | [7][8] |
| 3 | Delaware Hall of Records, Bureau of Archives and Records | Dover, Delaware | [7] | |
| 4 | Historical Society of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | [7] | |
| 5 | Independence National Historical Park | Philadelphia | George Washington copy | [7] |
| 6 | Library of Congress Manuscript Division | Washington, D.C. | Edmund Pendleton copy inAndrew Jackson Donelson papers | [7] |
| 7 | Library of Congress Manuscript Division | Washington, D.C. | James Madison papers | [7] |
| 8 | New Jersey State Library Archives and History Bureau | Trenton, New Jersey | [7] | |
| 9 | New-York Historical Society | New York City | Gilder Lerhman Collection; Benjamin Franklin copy, inscribed to Jonathan Williams Sr., Esq., missing last two pages | [7] |
| 10 | Public Record Office, Foreign Office | London | Phineas Bond to theMarquis of Carmarthen | [7] |
| 11 | Huntington Library | San Marino, California | [7] | |
| 12 | Princeton University Library'sScheide Library | Princeton, New Jersey | [7] | |
| 13 | Alexander Van Sinderen | Loaned to Stanford University Libraries exhibit, 1987–1988;[7] to be auctioned by Sotheby's at a future date;[9] its last auction had been in 1894[10] | [7] |
There are 12 remaining complete final printings (and one incomplete) of the Constitution known to exist (Evans 20818).[11] The final printings were rarely auctioned in the 200 years since their printing.[10]
In 2024 a copy of the official edition endorsed by the Congress of the Confederation (Evans 20817) appeared at Brunk Auctions and sold for $9m. This printing, by McClean of New York on behalf of Dunlap and Claypoole, was printed on September 28, 1787 and is distinct from the final printings produced by Dunlap and Claypoole in Philadelphia on September 27, 1787 (Evans 20818).[11]
